The Gotei 13
|image= |conflict=White Invasion |date=N/A |place=Fake Karakura Town, Human World |result=Aizen is victorious |side1=*Captain Soifon *Captain Sajin Komamura *Captain Shunsui Kyōraku *Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya *Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi *Shinji Hirako *Love Aikawa *Lisa Yadōmaru |side2=*Sōsuke Aizen |commanders1=*Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto |commanders2=*Sōsuke Aizen |forces1=*Zanjutsu *Zanpakutō (shikai - all, bankai - Komamura & Hitsugaya only) *Shunpo |forces2=*Zanjutsu *Zanpakutō (shikai) *Shunpo |casual1=All Allied Forces Fatally Injured. |casual2= Aizen is lightly injured }} Sōsuke Aizen vs. The Gotei 13 & The Vizard is a battle that takes place in the Fake Karakura Town. It involves a large majority of the Vizard and Gotei 13 facing off against Sōsuke Aizen. Prologue As Ichigo Kurosaki runs through a Garganta, he thinks to himself that he must not see Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu and that he must finish the battle in a single blow. He then reaches the end of the Garganta and arrives in the Fake Karakura Town, directly behind Aizen. Ichigo fires off a Getsuga Tenshō at Aizen but the blow is stopped by a barrier at Aizen's neck. As Ichigo is shocked from this, Aizen tells him that its been a long time since they last saw each other. He then goes on to tell him that the attack was good, but the location he picked was poor as the back of the neck is a persons greatest blind spot and that he wouldn't have left it open without any kind of defense there. As Ichigo thinks to himself that he should have taken out his Hollow mask when he attacked, Aizen guesses his thoughts and tells him that he will show him that him thinking he would win with Hollowfication is a presumptuous idea. Despite this, Ichigo still dons his Hollow mask and launches another Getsuga Tenshō at him but his opponent appears directly behind him and asks him what's wrong since he didn't hit him. Ichigo forms a distance between the two of them and Aizen questions his reasoning as to why he did that since if he wants to hit him he should get up close and fire. Aizen then asks him if it's because he's afraid of letting even a single part of him get out of his field of vision. Aizen tells him that it's a foolish thought since distance only has meaning in a battle between equals, but that between him and Ichigo, distance is meaningless and that he can always touch Ichigo's heart. As he says this, he flash steps right in front of Ichigo and lays his fingers on his chest.Bleach manga; Chapter 388, pages 2-15 Ichigo swings his Zanpakutō at Aizen but he dodges the attack and appears behind Ichigo. Aizen questions Ichigo as to why he's battling him, since he has no reason to fight him. He points out that since he's here Orihime Inoue must be safe, and that judging from his face none of his friends have died. Aizen asks him if he's truly able to hate him from the bottom of his heart. He then answers his own question by telling him he doesn't and that he is only swinging his sword out of a sense of duty, which won't work against him. All of a sudden Sajin Komamura appears in front of Ichigo and he tells him not to let Aizen get to him. Komamura warns him that provocation is Aizen's specialty and that if Ichigo were to lose himself then he would lose his life as well. He then tells him that he knows the reasons why the captains that came to Hueco Mundo sent Ichigo here first and he tells him that they won't let him see Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu. All of a sudden the Vizard and Gotei 13 appear in front of Ichigo and they tell him that they will fight and protect him.Bleach manga; Chapter 388, pages 16-20 However, Ichigo calls them crazy since their too injured but Shinji Hirako tells him that letting him fight alone would be the crazy thing to do. He points out to Ichigo that if he were to get killed by Aizen alone, there would be loads of people who couldn't control their anger. Shinji then tells him not to bear this burden alone and to not argue with him about this as this battle belongs to every single one of them.Bleach manga; Chapter 389, pages 1-3 Battle Tōshirō Hitsugaya charges towards Aizen and he swings his Zanpakutō down on him but Aizen blocks the blade with his own Zanpakutō. Aizen tells him that he's pretty daring for coming in and attacking him without a second thought, but Hitsugaya tells him that this will never get underway if someone doesn't attack him since making people miss their opportunities is one of his specialties. Hitsugaya praises Aizen for not using Kyōka Suigetsu on the first swing but Aizen tells him that he should be the one that's giving praise since he didn't come and attack him alone. All of a sudden Shunsui Kyōraku attacks Aizen but he blocks the blow with a barrier. As the barrier begins to crack, Shunsui asks him if he thinks this is unfair but Aizen tells him if he thinks that's what he meant then he'll revise his statement.Bleach manga; Chapter 389, pages 4-6 As Ichigo watches the battle in shock, Komamura offers Ichigo his gratitude because if he had not attacked Aizen at that instant, then he would have attacked Aizen in an enraged state and would have most likely gotten killed. Komamura then thanks Ichigo and charges towards Aizen. Shinji asks Ichigo why he didn't bring Orihime Inoue with him since she would have been able to heal all of them and then they could fight Aizen at full force. Shinji forgives him though since he brought Retsu Unohana with him and remarks that she would be the better one for battle anyway. Unohana is then shown going up to Hachigen Ushōda, who has put Hiyori Sarugaki in a barrier. Shinji calls for Lisa Yadōmaru, Love Aikawa and Rose, and they all charge towards Aizen. Soifon appears next to Ichigo and she asks him how long he's going to stay in that daze. She warns him that Aizen will only be vulnerable for a moment and that he'll miss his chance if he continues to stay like that. However, Soifon tells him not to be mistaken and think that they have come here prepared to die. She tells Ichigo that they've come here to win and that "protecting the world" is nothing more than a grand cause with a nice ring to it. She goes on to say that not only are they fighting to live, but their also fighting so that he can live and that they can protect everyone else from Aizen's grasp. Soifon warns Ichigo not to fall behind and she charges towards Aizen while Marechiyo Ōmaeda follows behind her. As Ichigo remembers Byakuya Kuchiki telling him that he is not strong enough to assist anyone in the Gotei 13, Ichigo is convinced that the Vizard and captains are strong enough to defeat Aizen. Ichigo decides to watch this fight closely and to believe in their strength.Bleach manga; Chapter 389, pages 7-13 Hitsugaya tells Aizen that he's wrong in thinking swords swung out of a sense of duty can't cut him down, since that's exactly how captains swing their blades. He states that swinging your blade out of hate is nothing more than base violence, which is not what captains refer to as fighting. He then tells Aizen that he isn't worthy of being a captain. Aizen simply finds his words amusing though, since out of all the Gotei 13 captains Hitsugaya is the one who despises him the most. He then questions Hitsugaya if there really is no hatred in his blade, or if all his hatred disappeared the second Momo Hinamori recovered and arrived here. Shunsui interrupts Aizen by swinging his Zanpakutō at Aizen's head, but he easily dodges the attack and appears behind Shunsui. Aizen tells Shunsui that he's rude for interrupting him but Shunsui tells him that he gets bored listening to opponents who are male. Hitsugaya activates his Bankai, Daiguren Hyōrinmaru, and tells Aizen that he's right in thinking his blade is full of hate. Hitsugaya tells him that he didn't come here to fight with him, but to violently hack him to pieces. Shunsui warns Hitsugaya not to be so rash.Bleach manga; Chapter 389, pages 13-19 Hitsugaya tells Aizen that he probably wants to mock him by stating that if his blade is full of hate, then he isn't worthy of being a captain, but Hitsugaya states that he would be correct in thinking that. Hitsugaya tells him that it doesn't matter if he loses his position as a captain, as long as he's able to kill him. He states that he's going to smash him with everything hes got while at the same time not giving him the chance to use Kyōka Suigetsu, and he warns Aizen to prepare himself, but if he doesn't then it won't matter either way as he isn't going to show him any mercy. As Hitsugaya goes to attack Aizen, Gin Ichimaru watches from on top of a destroyed building and reiterates what Hitsugaya said about Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu, claiming it to be a foolish thought since they all have a misunderstanding of Aizen's power.Bleach manga; Chapter 390, pages 1-5 Hitsugaya uses Hyōryū Senbi and swings his Zanpakutō in a linear direction at Aizen which creates overflowing ice from his blade in the form of a crescent. Aizen dodges the attack by jumping into the air but Hitsugaya uses Zekku to send his technique into the air as well. Before Aizen can react to this, Komamura and Love both release their Zanpakutō, Tenken and Tengumaru respectively, and smash Aizen with them at the same time. Komamura asks Hitsugaya to forgive him as he's going to join in on his battle as well. Hitsugaya tells him to do what he wants as he never intended this battle to be one on one anyway. All of a sudden Aizen breaks Komamura's Zanpakutō and tells him that he's naïve in thinking he could win by striking with power. Aizen wonders if their basic idea of the word "power" is simply different and he goes up to Komamura, deciding to teach him what "power" really is. Komamura releases his Bankai, Kokujō Tengen Myō'ō, but Aizen easily severs its blade and left arm at the middle of the forearm and cutting the side of its torso, causing similar damage to Komamura, who screams in pain. Despite this, Komamura makes one final attack with his broken blade, but is blocked by Aizen, who gives him a decisive blow to the chest which sends him hurtling down to the town below. Rose swings his released Zanpakutō, Kinshara, but Aizen easily catches it and pulls Rose down, and he cuts him down which causes a stream of blood to be launched into the air. As this is happening Gin continues to talk to himself and states that Kyōka Suigetsu isn't what makes Aizen scary. He admits that while it is a scary ability, there would still be people who would rather die than follow him if that was all he had. Gin states that the only reason he was able to gather all of the Espada into a single group despite them all having different agendas, is because he's strong. Gin goes on to say that no matter how much they prepare against Aizen, his abilities will still be far beyond that.Bleach manga; Chapter 390, pages 8-19 Aizen takes Rose's Kinshara and wraps it around Love, pulling him closer and slashing him as well. Ichigo looks on in shock as Komamura, Rose, and Love fall into the town below.Bleach manga; Chapter 391, pages 1-3 Lisa, with her Hollow mask on, attacks Aizen from behind with her released Zanpakutō, Haguro Tonbo, but he evades the attack and breaks her Zanpakutō. He notices that she is wearing her Hollow mask and states that he already told them that they are nothing but pseudo-Arrancar and cuts her down her as well. Aizen then asks her that if he can have Arrancar obeying him, how do "pseudo-Arrancar" expect to stand against him. All of a sudden Soifon appears in front of Aizen, which causes Aizen to ask her if she has gone insane since he never imagined the secret mobile corps, much less its supreme commander, would attack him head on. Aizen recites what all Shinigami learn in the academy, which is not to seek beauty in battle, not to seek out virtue in death, not to think of your life as your own, and to cut down your foes from behind to protect what must be protected. Soifon simply finds it amusing that a traitor would recite Shinigami lessons to her, but Aizen states that he once taught those lessons before. Soifon tells him that it's because the Central 46 allowed him to do so and that's why they had the rug pulled out from under them by a traitor. Aizen tells her not to speak ill of the dead and points out that she had the rug pulled from under her too. However, Soifon states that this isn't the case for her and she creates many clones. Aizen praises her on how well the clones are made and Soifon states that it's an honor to receive some praise from him, so she decides that she is going to finish him off with this technique. The clones of her then charge towards Aizen.Bleach manga; Chapter 391, pages 5-11 Aizen goes to unsheathe his Zanpakutō but as he does this his arm is encased in ice. Soifon then appears in front of Aizen and uses Nigeki Kessatsu and hits Aizen in the chest. However, it doesn't work and Aizen tells her that his immense reiatsu will cancel out her technique. Aizen is then surprised as he is attacked from the back by a shadow. Shunsui reveals himself having used his Kageoni technique, stating Aizen was careless by not taking into consideration that there was a shadow on the ice. As Aizen curses the 8th division captain under his breath, Hitsugaya tells Aizen it's over. Aizen glances at him as Hitsugaya rushes at him, noting to himself that because Hitsugaya is so young, he attacks at the first opening without planning ahead, calling it his biggest failing. Just then, he notices Shinji standing to the background, holding up his Sakanade and smiling. Aizen realizes too late that he has entered the inverted world and that Hitsugaya is not attacking from the front, but the back as he is stabbed through the chest from behind, with an expression of surprise on his face.Bleach manga; Chapter 391, pages 12-19 Aizen feels the blade that has stabbed him and tries to pull it out, but eventually gives up while cursing Hitsugaya. Izuru Kira shouts out that the captains have finally done it. Tetsuzaemon Iba tells Kira that he should look happier and not have the same gloomy look on his face, and Kira tells him he's right. Momo suddenly gets up and begins walking away. Iba and Kira ask her where she's going but Momo doesn't answer. Shinji looks over at Gin and tells him that it looks like things are finally turning around. All of a sudden Ichigo yells at everyone and asks them what their doing. The "defeated" Aizen is revealed to actually be Momo and everyone looks on in shock. Shinji looks over to where Momo was at, only to see Kira and Iba being cut down by Aizen. Shinji asks Aizen how long he has been using Kyōka Suigetsu but Aizen simply answers with an explanation of his Zanpakutō's ability. Shinji angrily asks his question again but Aizen asks him how long he has thought that he hasn't been using it, and Shinji remembers back to when Hitsugaya first attacked Aizen. Momo simply asks Hitsugaya "why", which causes Hitsugaya to attack Aizen in a blind rage. As the other captain-level fighters try to stop him, Aizen tells them that their all wide open and he cuts down Hitsugaya, Shinji, Shunsui, and Soifon.Bleach manga; Chapter 392, pages 4-22 Aftermath The captain-level fighters fall into the town below and Aizen tells them that he won't kill them. He states that even with those wounds, they should be strong enough to live. He tells them to lie helplessly on the ground and to observe the conclusion of this battle.Bleach manga; Chapter 393, pages 1-3 References Navigation